Going for a Swim and a Date
by countmeawake
Summary: He'd only joined the gym because of the new lifeguard.


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* * *

He'd only joined the gym because of the new lifeguard.

The fact that he'd joined the gym purely because of this lifeguard made him feel incredibly sad about his life, but in some ways he didn't care. Because the new lifeguard was hot. And by hot, he means "_I want to lick chocolate sauce off your abs whilst you beg for more"_ kind of hot.

Plus it's not as if Stiles _needed _to join the gym. Although he spent much of his time on the bench during games, he still had some muscle tone from lacrosse training.

But when lifeguard Derek Hale came into school to give a speech on…well Stiles can't really remember because his mind was otherwise occupied (something to do with exercise and how useful it is? Stiles can think of a few exercises that can keep him both fit and sexually satisfied, and they all involve Derek Hale) he knew that joining the gym would be the next milestone in his life. Because he totally needed to train. That's totally the reason why he's here. Not because of the lifeguard at all. That's just an added bonus. Yep.

He shows his membership card to the petite blonde at the desk and then heads off towards the changing rooms. He's totally in the mood for a swim at six thirty in the morning, isn't everyone?

Stiles laughs to himself because honestly, he can't remember being up this early since the school had taken a trip to New York for the week, and even then his dad had to drag him out of bed and practically throw him in the car.

The men's changing room isn't packed, but it's not empty either so immediately Stiles goes all body conscious and finds a toilet cubicle to change into his swimming gear. He takes a quick shower and heads out to the pool to find it near enough empty, and Stiles breathes in the smell of water and chlorine and he smiles because it's a smell he secretly loves.

Stiles hasn't swam for near enough three years. He pretty much gave that up when he started lacrosse training, and he hasn't really had the need to swim since. He looks up at the clock and it says six fifty-eight in the morning, and Stiles knows that in precisely two minutes it's not going to be a brunette woman on the lifeguard chair anymore, but a lean, dark haired, sour-faced man in his early twenties with abs _to die for_.

Stiles knows that perhaps he shouldn't have eaten that huge bowl of cereal this morning, but like always, he was just so damn hungry that he didn't really think of the precautions. He checks the time again and it's been over an hour anyway, so that stupid myth of not being able to swim an hour after eating doesn't apply here regardless. He walks to the shallow end of the pool and gets in, shivering slightly at the temperature change and ducking underneath the water a few times to get his whole body wet.

Derek Hale walks into the pool area and nods once at the woman on the chair, who proceeds to get down, pat Derek on the left shoulder and leave. Stiles looks around and now it's just him and Derek and two women in the pool and Stiles' heart sinks because these women are _attractive_ and now he knows he's not going to get looked at, not even once.

But he's here now so he might as well get on with it, and he starts to swim a few lengths, two lengths front-stroke, two lengths back-stroke, and so on. He's on his eighth length and he's praising himself as surprisingly he's not tired yet and he looks up and notices that Derek's looking at him.

Stiles immediately goes all self conscious and thinks a million things to himself, one of them being "oh my god I haven't swam in so long am I doing it wrong? Is this why he's looking at me with his scowl-face?" but he dismisses it because hey, fuck you Derek , and he carries on swimming.

It's actually kind of exhilarating. The way the water rushes over his body is relaxing and Stiles swims at a pace that suits him and he's beginning to enjoy it. Hell, he might come here more often and not just because Derek freaking Hale is the lifeguard.

After an hour he needs to get to school, so he swims back to the shallow end and gets out, shaking himself like a dog and laughing quietly to himself because who actually does that? He walks over to the showers and switches one of them on by pushing the nozzle with his back as he leans against it, and he lets the warm water run over his body and wash away some of that chlorine smell which he knows is just going to linger on him for the rest of the day anyway. He opens his eyes and he notices that Derek Hale is looking at him again and he looks down to see if he's naked but nope, the appropriate parts are covered up, and he smiles to himself because now he's thinking of all those stupid movies where the character loses their trunks in the pool and they end up naked. He finishes his shower and gets changed pronto, leaving for school with a smile on his face and a warmth in his bones.

He returns to the swimming pool the next day, and surprisingly, it's actually _to swim_ and not to stare at the lifeguard, although that's probably a given. This time he forgets to eat completely so by the time he gets to the pool he's absolutely starving, so he grabs a chocolate bar from the vending machine and eats it in three bites. He knows that he shouldn't be doing this but he refuses to swim on an empty stomach because he's Stiles Stilinski, and Stiles Stilinski should never have an empty stomach.

He showers again and gets into the pool and finds that it's empty apart from him, the same two women from yesterday, and an older man who seems to be enjoying the sauna first. He starts swimming again and immediately finds a good pace. Once again he feels the rush of adrenaline mixed with the heat of the water and it calms him to a state of near-paradise. He doesn't even count the lengths he does, and his only connection to the outside world from his mind is when he opens his eyes every few minutes to check the time on the clock.

He turns his head to the side to see Derek watching him again, and he thinks _well if Derek Hale wants to watch me swim, then he will watch me swim_, and he ups his pace and turns over onto his back so his chest isn't as guarded by water because for some reason there's frustration bubbling inside of him so he's gonna give this sour face a damn good show if there was one.

It's somewhere near his twentieth (he supposes) length that he starts to feel something wrong. His right leg feels a little twingy and his stomach is turning slowly, so he slows down a little and swims on his front. But he gets to the deep end and suddenly the cramp comes, all up his right side starting from his leg to his stomach and he chokes from the sudden pain but inhales a _shit load _of water and now he doesn't know what's up from down. He starts to feel very claustrophobic because _holy crap there's water everywhere_ and now he's under the surface and unable to breathe and he's going to die because that's just the way life is. His head is _pounding _and he knows his body is fighting not to breathe until that very last second, but he can feel that second looming and he opens his mouth to let the water consume him and _right at that last second_ he passes out but not before he feels two strong arms grab him from around the waist.

* * *

He wakes up only seconds later but this time he's on the poolside floor and there's someone practically sitting on him and touching him and holy crap it's Derek Hale. Derek leans down and opens his mouth and Stiles almost yelps. "I'm alive!" he screams, "no need for making out," and then he almost regrets it because Derek's mouth was going to be on his and he just stopped it and did Stiles just cockblock himself? What the hell is going on?

"It's called mouth to mouth you idiot," comes the reply and Derek isn't leaning on him anymore but kneeling at his side, "it's what usually happens when someone has two lungs full of water."

Stiles coughs and his throat is raw and dry and all he can taste is chlorine but he's alive but cold. "Well I'm alive now aren't I David Hasselhoff so we can both be on our merry ways."

"We have to keep you under observation for a while because…"

"Because nothing tough stuff, I've got an econ test to get to and a lacrosse match to not play." It hurts to speak and he sits up and his stomach aches but he needs to leave and he doesn't want to look at Derek Hale because he knows he'll end up falling head over heels again like he did with Lydia and hell no that's not going to happen for a second time.

"You're not leaving," Derek says, throwing a red towel at him and it hits Stiles in the face and now it's his turn to be sour, "go get dressed and meet me out front, you need to be checked over by a nurse."

"Are you freaking kidding me? I nearly died and you're just telling me to do all these things by myself? I'm in pain here, buddy," Stiles states but he gets up anyway and although his legs are a little wobbly, he manages to keep upright.

"Let's just say I'm not the nurturing type," Derek responds and Stiles laughs and it hurts his throat.

"Yeah I can see that," he replies and turns around to head for the showers because he wants to rid his body of the whole _near death _thing.

He emerges from the changing rooms fully clothed and Derek is there waiting with a sandwich (at half past seven, really Derek?) and a bottle of water and he tells Stiles to sit down and eat before going off and getting a nurse, who checks him over, gives him the all go ("Did you eat anything before you swam this morning?" she asks and Stiles doesn't even need to say yes as his cheeks flush red and he looks down and Derek _laughs _as the nurse scolds him) and tells him he can leave at any time, but to finish his sandwich first "and don't swim afterwards", and Stiles mock laughs and looks down because _wow what an embarrassing morning_.

He takes a few bites of his sandwich and realises that Derek's still sat opposite just looking at him. "What?" he asks, mouthful of bread and Derek just huffs again.

"Who would have thought that half an hour ago I was ridding your lungs of water," Derek says and turns his head slightly on a tilt as he just _looks _at Stiles.

"Yeah about that," Stiles begins, looking away because _holy crap Derek Hale is attractive_, "thanks, I guess."

"Just doing my job," Derek replies but doesn't stop looking at Stiles and now Stiles is beginning to think that perhaps this whole attraction fiasco is just a bodily thing because Derek looks like a bit of a creeper when he stares for too long.

"Well…thanks anyway," Stiles says and takes a sip of his water because his throat is really starting to hurt now, and he thinks that perhaps he may have to stop talking for longer than ten minutes to let it rest and heal.

"You can buy me dinner later as a thank you," Derek states and now it's Stiles' turn to just look at him completely dumbfounded for a second but Derek's half-smile doesn't budge and Stiles melts a little.

"Okay," he replies and did he just score a date with super-hot-lifeguard Derek Hale? He thinks he just did.

"Just promise me something," Derek says and Stiles nods and says "what?"

Derek grins. "Just don't swim for at least an hour afterwards."


End file.
